Kamnan and village headmen protest local administration reform

[webfact]

Kamnan and village headmen protest local administration reform



BANGKOK: -- Thousands of kamnan and village headmen in the South, the North, the Northeast rallied in front of city town halls to protest the proposed local administration reform that will see provincial governors coming from election, and positions of chief district officers relinquished.

The protests in many provinces, namely Ratchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Phitsanulok, Ubon Ratchathani, came as the National Reform Council (NRC) held the first meeting Monday to begin deliberating all reform proposals submitted by 18 reform committees to forward to the Constitutional Crafting Committee as guidelines to draft a new constitution.

The NRC will have three days to allow all reform committees to explain their proposals before deliberation.

There are altogether 246 proposals to be deliberated. One of which is a proposal by the political reform committee which proposed to dissolve local administration organisations and have the provincial governor coming from election by the people, instead of the current appointment by the Minister of Interior.

The kamnan and village headmen viewed that the country isn’t yet ready for election of local administration officers, in particular the provincial governor who will take care of millions of people in each province.

They said if the governor comes from election, it will allow influential people who have money to buy votes, and elected governor might not be a good governor.

Patronage system will return and the elected governor will treat only people who elect him, they claimed.

They also said dissolution of local administrations means there is no longer the position of district chief officer, which in turn means no kamnan and village headmen.

They submitted their demand for the military junta to scrap the proposal in a week with threat to upgrade their protest if it is not responded.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/kamnan-village-headmen-protest-local-administration-reform


-- Thai PBS 2014-12-15

[Bluespunk]

"Patronage system will return and the elected governor will treat only people who elect him, they claimed."

Return? It's still present in the current system.

Methinks this is more about potential loss of income/influence rather than democratic concerns for many.

Not all, certainly, but.......

[ginjag]

Most of this also is they have for 3 years or more been getting mega kickbacks from projects etc, too many places for fiddles, now they will not be getting the goodies and they don't like it. The good ones stay put, the others sack them.

[terryp]

one of the most corrupt parts of all village life in thailand

[lupin]

I'm sure others have had dealings with village headmen both good and bad. Rather than tar all with the one brush.. I can only share what interaction I've had with a particular village headman in Ubon.

A 500 thb budget was allocated per student for food and travel for a class doing a 2 week goodwill project for a hospital taking care of the elderly. Our niece was part of this class, the only connection our niece had to us was that she stays with us when visiting Bangkok. The headman reasoned that she was not eligible for the 500 thb allowance since "rich farang take care her" (his words to me at a time that we happened to be visiting Ubon) ... he demanded the money back from her mother with threats of trouble at school for her daughter if she did not cough it up.

Of course I'm sure he simply re-allocated this money to fund other school activities....

[WhizBang]

They are scared that they are about to lose access to the feeding trough.

Nothing else.

Edited December 15, 2014 by WhizBang

[webfact]

Local Officials Denounce Proposal For Nationwide Governor Election
By Khaosod English

UBON RATCHATHANI — More than 200 local officials defied the military junta's ban on public protests today by rallying against a proposal that would allow Thais in every province to elect their own Governor.

The kamnans [subdistrict headmen] and village chiefs staged their protest in front of Ubon Ratchathani’s City Hall this morning, with some officials holding banners denouncing the proposal for nationwide gubernatorial elections.

One of the officials also held up a portrait of King Rama V, the monarch widely credited with establishing a centralised form of bureaucracy in Thailand in the early 20th century.

Supot Boonharn, director of the Association of Ubon Ratchathani Kamnans and Village Chiefs, which organised the protests, said he believes Thailand "is not yet ready" for democracy at the local level.

"In elections, those with money can simply buy votes from the people, and bad people will become the rulers," Supot said. "It will lead to factionalism. They will only take care of people in their groups or factions."

Under the current system, the Ministry of Interior Affairs in Bangkok appoints Governors for 76 of the 77 provinces in Thailand, with Bangkok as a lone exception. In Bangkok, a Governor is elected every four years.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1418630598


-- Khaosod English 2014-12-15

[inzman]

In one village I know of the Kanman had a wedding party for his son. Everybody was invited and it was a big party, cost 2 million, paid for from the village fund. The villagers all said what a nice and generous man the Kanman was. All the roads in the village were in complete disrepair and no infrastructure was in good condition. The villagers all blamed Bangkok ?

[Fiddlesticks]

Unfortunately, both the existing situation and the proposed 'election' of provincial leaders will likely be ineffective solutions for local governance UNLESS there are checks and balances which are backed by accountability and enforcement. It is a given that here in Thailand, all levels of government, elected or appointed, are prone to corruption if left to their own devices. Expecting that elected leaders will be any more effective or less corrupt than appointed leaders is just head-in-the-sand wishful thinking.

[beautifulthailand99]

Good job 'Kamnam' Suthep is still meditating in his temple in Surat Thani and far from the mddding crowd - Kamnan in the South were key movers and shakers in the PDRC plan so they won't be happy at all.

[beautifulthailand99]

Local Officials Denounce Proposal For Nationwide Governor Election

By Khaosod English

UBON RATCHATHANI — More than 200 local officials defied the military junta's ban on public protests today by rallying against a proposal that would allow Thais in every province to elect their own Governor.

The kamnans [subdistrict headmen] and village chiefs staged their protest in front of Ubon Ratchathani’s City Hall this morning, with some officials holding banners denouncing the proposal for nationwide gubernatorial elections.

One of the officials also held up a portrait of King Rama V, the monarch widely credited with establishing a centralised form of bureaucracy in Thailand in the early 20th century.

Supot Boonharn, director of the Association of Ubon Ratchathani Kamnans and Village Chiefs, which organised the protests, said he believes Thailand "is not yet ready" for democracy at the local level.

"In elections, those with money can simply buy votes from the people, and bad people will become the rulers," Supot said. "It will lead to factionalism. They will only take care of people in their groups or factions."

Under the current system, the Ministry of Interior Affairs in Bangkok appoints Governors for 76 of the 77 provinces in Thailand, with Bangkok as a lone exception. In Bangkok, a Governor is elected every four years.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1418630598

-- Khaosod English 2014-12-15

If they were on here they would be breaking forum rules ....

By law, the Thai Royal Family are above politics. Speculation, comments and discussion of either a political or personal nature are not allowed when discussing HM The King or the Royal family.*

[nongsung]

The road to our village is a complete disaster; the top-layer is already gone for years and the (big) holes were

'fixed' with cement lately. Now we have enormous bumps of hardened concrete, holes and a lot of debris;

it is just dangerous to go there on your bike.

Result: two motorbike crashes, one young guy split his skull and will never be the same anymore and just

this morning a young schoolgirl crashed her bike and broke her hip.

What is our village headman doing? Well, nothing...

[z42]

Without effective upholding of the law and / or systems to promote clean politics then the corruption is just going to continue and the same problems & behaviours as a by-product of it will continue.
Too many greedy and rotten individuals here for it to ever be cleaned up properly. Democracy and Thailand are completely incompatible as nearly 20 coups in less than a century alludes to

[Ricardo]

"Thousands of kamnan and village headmen in the South, the North, the Northeast rallied in front of city town halls to protest the proposed local administration reform"

It takes a threat to the pork-barrel, to unite these junior-politicians, from both North and South !

[beautifulthailand99]

The road to our village is a complete disaster; the top-layer is already gone for years and the (big) holes were

'fixed' with cement lately. Now we have enormous bumps of hardened concrete, holes and a lot of debris;

it is just dangerous to go there on your bike.

Result: two motorbike crashes, one young guy split his skull and will never be the same anymore and just

this morning a young schoolgirl crashed her bike and broke her hip.

What is our village headman doing? Well, nothing...

At least you know where the 8k allocated annual budget for road repairs went.

[Lupatria]

Looks like the status level of "influential/untouchable individuals" has hit a new low.

[worgeordie]

The Gravy train is coming to a halt and none of them are happy,

think it goes to prove the changes will be better.

regards Worgeordie

[slapout]

A golden oppurnity to relieve a large portion of the problem in 1 fell swoop. Jail the entire bunch for violation of the mass meeting decree, hold elections in every village immediately. If the reasoning behind the proposed election of these people by residents of the village is correct in that corruption will be reduced, the good/honest officals will/shouls be elected back into office, while the others will be left to do what they are qualified to do. Dog catcher, work on farm, garbage man, road repair, etc. Just ensure there is no intimidation of villigers by those thugs who have supported the present system heads. BRING ON THE ARMY.

The government has a perfect chance to hit the entire corrupt system from the lowest level to the higher levels. The latter seems to have already happened in a few cases.

[Bakseeda]

Yes, get them out.... It's how The Red Shirts took complete control of Issan.. all headmen were paid one million bahts every year by Mr T. These guys have been robbing their villages for years.. Many of them are the illegal moneylenders also.. The Junta should look into the wealth of village headmen..

[Ozziepat]

Why is it necessary for all of these these positions to exist? Too many hands in the cookie jar to effectively monitor, maintain accountability and correct if necessary, funds are being allocated down to an absurd level of detail... The system needs an overhaul, and discussion of how to maintain it is a huge distraction and waste of time. A clean slate and some serious analytical thinking would be helpful before all the old problems are enshrined in the new structure.

[Eric Loh]

Yes, get them out.... It's how The Red Shirts took complete control of Issan.. all headmen were paid one million bahts every year by Mr T. These guys have been robbing their villages for years.. Many of them are the illegal moneylenders also.. The Junta should look into the wealth of village headmen..

This bill amendment for election and 60 years retirement age was started by TRT and later pushed by PT. That's seem contrary to what you implied. I remembered that the Kamnans and village heads gathered and protested against the then governments.

[Tatsujin]

Oh, this is hilarious ... one bunch of thieves complaining about another bunch of (elected) thieves coming in and taking over their patch/income.

And this quote is brilliant:

"Supot Boonharn, director of the Association of Ubon Ratchathani Kamnans and Village Chiefs, which organised the protests, said he believes Thailand "is not yet ready" for democracy at the local level."

Thailand, you're not ready for "democracy" full stop.

[bangkokfrog]

"The NRC will have three days to allow all reform committees to explain their proposals before deliberation. There are altogether 246 proposals to be deliberated."

Many people here (perhaps justifiably) complaining about their local administrations. But what about the BIG picture? Three days to allow reform committees to explain 246 proposals? Am I missing something, or does this sound like the decisions have already been made and this is all for show?

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

If these guys are so certain that they are doing the best job for the people in their villages then they should be happy to run for governor and then when they are elected they can continue to do their great selfless work.

[wabothai]

Yeah, I bet they protest!! Car payments have to be made.

[ChrisY1]

The best thing that can happen is to get rid of these scamming rats...........while the Thai people have accepted their rule for so long....they deserve much better than these maggots trying to rule their lives!

[tbthailand]

OK, first of all, I think local government should be elected, period. The appointment of governs from BKK is archaic.

It should be noted, that... interestingly enough - This is a proposal from the PCAD / PDRC / Team Yellow.

The people who blocked national elections which they thought they would lose.

Amazing how local elections are ok when you know that you are going to win them.

They are self-serving hypocrites, surprise, surprise.

[PETERTHEEATER]

It was only a couple of years ago that the elected position of Pooyaibahn was changed from 5 years to life!

[somo]

I can understand the call for provincial governors to be elected rather than appointed but what is the point of getting rid of the more junior officials who are a already elected. Someone will have to do their jobs so presumably they will be appointed. Doesn't seem like progress to me.

In our Isaan village the pooyai ban does do a job and although a yellow shirt still gets elected as he is really the best man for the job. Everyone knows he has perks but nothing too excessive (if he was rich from it he wouldn't need to borrow from me) and certainly doesn't short change his voters as they would kill him if he did.

Take him away and the villagers will feel more disenfranchised than they do now.

[mrtoad]

Sums it up really. The thieves won't like having their funds stopped